This invention is in the field of surgical staples and surgical staple guns for implanting such staples. A very large number of surgical stapler devices have been made in the last few years by a growing number of manufacturers; however, in all cases the staples used were essentially conventional stainless steel or equivalent staples, generally similar to those used for stationery products, other packaging or joining equipment. More particularly such staples are preformed in a wide open condition with legs of the staple directed parallel and downward from a top arch or crossbar to grasp adjacent edges of an incision for closure. These staples are contained in a magazine, and each is released one at a time and moved laterally forward to a fixed anvil which supports the underside of the crossbar while its sharply pointed ends engage and pierce tissue and are forcibly bent to close about and capture the edges of the juxtaposed tissue.
In typical prior art staplers the staple is forced from a generally rectangular configuration to generally closed rectangular configuration by applying force at two points on the top side of the staple while restraining it inbetween these points. The term anvil is used because the staple is closed by forcing the legs against a fixed, rigid anvil-like support within or near the surface of the stapler's housing. Such substantial forces are required that the support anvil is traditionally a fixed portion of the housing, which thus results in the staple being implanted and closed while its upper arch part remains in the stapler. This arrangement obviously has a limiting effect on the surgeon's ability to see the stapler and the wound.
In addition to the visibility limitation due to the location of the staple partially within the device during closure, the prior art devices are relatively large to begin with which is another inherent visibility obstacle. The width dimension of the prior art housing, for example, must be at least equal to the width of a staple in its fully open configuration in the staple magazine, plus housing thickness and clearance, this total width dimension being significantly greater than the width of a staple in closed configuration.